


Not Alone

by CaffeinatedPokedex



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Torture, POV Second Person, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-08
Updated: 2015-05-08
Packaged: 2018-03-29 13:44:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3898459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaffeinatedPokedex/pseuds/CaffeinatedPokedex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two months... You've been gone for two months and wake up in the most beautiful and extravagant room you've ever set foot in. Must be one of Tony's places. The rest of the Avengers must have finally come for you. You were abducted and tested on, which sadly isn't the first time this has happened. This time is different though, you have friends you can rely on and who will support you. You're kind of a mess right now, which isn't completely unexpected- you were kind of tortured over the last two months- but it's time to start the healing process, and you're not alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Alone

**Author's Note:**

> It's flagged for medical torture, but that was in the past. Seeing as this is an incomplete and multi-chaptered work, there aren't any over-arching warnings that apply to the whole story. Any warnings will be posted in the notes before chapters. The original working title was "Bruce Needs a Hug"... I'm very original.
> 
> Set somewhere just after Winter Soldier.

A frantic opening of metal doors alerts the men and women standing around you.

“How could you- this- this is _barbaric!_ ” Is the last thing you hear before the world grows sickeningly green. It’s perhaps a familiar voice, completely unexpected though. You’ve been so drugged that you can’t make out who it is, why they would say something like that, or where it’s coming from…

The only thing you can comprehend is you’re in danger.

You are vulnerable.

You have been hurt.

You are angry.

~~  
~~

You wake up with the finest silk pajamas you’ve ever worn, opposite of your expected outcome. Instead of lost in a forest or abandoned warehouse, you are warm and surrounded by plush quilts and comforters and about forty freaking pillows.

The surroundings are new, but the feeling of them is not.

With this much modern art and sleek architecture, not to mention a gorgeous view of some mystery ocean out the ridiculously huge windows, you know you are at a residence of Tony Stark’s. You shed the abundant blankets and sit over the side of the bed.

“Jarvis?” You call, receiving a warm greeting in return. “Could you tell me the date and time?”

“It’s Tuesday, July twentieth, eighteen twenty-three hours, sir,” he responds, knowing your preferences already and suggesting,” Would you like to see a spread of recent news?”

Your head hurts and it swims when you try nodding. “Y-yeah,” you add on, rubbing at your temples. Blue tinged news articles fly up around the room and you glance around. Getting to your feet, you browse through them and flick away the ones you aren’t interested in.

You’re glad to know you haven’t missed that much in two months gone from society. You’re pretty used to being removed from society, so you’re only really interested in huge political changes and breakthroughs in the science community.

You have been looking at one news article outlining the journey of a new shuttle for twenty minutes straight before Jarvis asks,” Would you like me to alert Master Stark of your status, sir? Or perhaps you’re interested in some breakfast?”

Hesitantly looking around and pacing slightly, you mumble,” N-no… that’s fine. I think I’ll just…” You sit back on the bed and run your hands through your hair. Your stomach is trying to climb it’s way up your throat, and you ask,” Bathroom…?” You can’t waste time looking right now.

“To your left, sir.” A holographic arrow springs into existence leading all the way to your destination.

“Thank you.” You always make sure thank him.

You stagger to the overly large bathroom and empty your stomach’s contents. It doesn’t surprise you that mostly only bile comes forth. Your stomach still insists more heaving, and you have to oblige it for a good ten minutes every few moments.

“Is there anything I can do for you, sir?”

Lying back against the wall opposite the toilet, you recline your head and assure him,” No. I just need some time.” Your eyes crinkle close in your attempt to shut out the images fluttering in your mind’s eye.

_Needles are injecting poison and green is clouding your mind, but it can’t filter through the haze-_

Breathing in deeply and exhaling in short, controlled bursts, you calm your quickening heart rate. Regulating your breathing, and concentrating on the forcibly slowed raising and lowering of your chest, relaxes you enough that you can open your eyes and ask,” Who is all, um, here? Wherever we are.”

You can never recall anything with clarity from one of your… episodes… but you think that maybe you remember the soft _thwunk_ of arrows landing in their targets to either side of you, concentrated bolts of light, and flaming red hair among other discombobulated flashes of images and sounds.

“Master Stark and Potts, Agent Romanov, Agent Barton, and Captain Rogers are here. Sir Thor is planning to be back within the week, but had royal business to attend. We’re in one of Master Stark’s smaller summer homes, sir.”

The last line makes you laugh. You’ve had smaller homes than this bathroom. 

“Just give me a bit to shower and then I might consider talking to them,” you finally decide, knowing that Jarvis would insist soon and continue to prompt you into socializing. You have no doubt that Tony wanted to see you the second you were conscious and informed Jarvis of this.

You investigate your room and are not surprised to find a whole closet full of clothes in your size. You grab a set of clothes and head back to the bathroom. Despite your simpler tastes, the luxurious shower is something you’re greatly thankful for.

You feel processed and overly sterile from your two month stay, and ironically you plan to shower away that too clean feel. Warm water massages your muscles that are stiff from too much laying around, and the heavy flow of water beats down the anxiety for enough time you can get your head on straight.

You converse with Jarvis about trivial science banter to distract yourself from the disjointed memories trying to shuffle around into order. There is no order to be had, it’s horrific and traumatic, and you wish you could just shove it all away.

You think you’re doing pretty well until all of sudden you’re sitting in the corner of the shower and shivering, and Jarvis is trying to get your attention. You managed to slide across the controls and turn the water to the coldest setting in your absent minded decent. The water becomes warm again as Jarvis takes over the controls.

You cradle your head in your hands and tell yourself you’re okay. You’re safe. Your hair is still soapy from the shampoo you had been working on. Getting to your feet, you finish cleaning up and shut everything off.

The clothes are stiff, new, and overly expensive, but you expected nothing less. Wandering out of the room, you recognize Tony’s style of architecture well enough that you can find the kitchen on your own. You could have just asked, but it calms you to really learn to layout of your surroundings.

You suspect shenanigans on Jarvis’ part, because all of the Avengers in the house are in the kitchen when you stroll in. You’re not really ready to deal with people, and it shows in your withdrawn posture and averted gaze. Thank goodness for Barton and Romanov’s keen perception, because they keep Rogers and Stark from approaching you. You just want some fruit and tea and to talk to no one for a very long time, but you know there are plenty of questions to be asked. You guess you should probably answer some since they did save you after all.

Tony is just aching to say something, you can tell, but is trying to be patient and play it cool. You open the refrigerator and scour through the plentiful food. Settling on two pears, you meander passed Tony and Clint to look through the cabinets.

“Whatcha’ looking for? I could help,” offers Tony.

“Some kind of tea,” you reply, stepping back from the cabinets. It would be nice not to have to stand around everyone searching forever.

“Tea should be right here, I think,” he says opening the door to the far left. It’s obvious he rarely gets stuff for himself. It’s quite an impressive array of loose leaf teas, but you notice a problem very quickly. “Pepper has… earl grey and oolong, whatever that is. Here’s some-”

“It’s fine, I’ll just stick to water, thanks.”

“Don’t have what you like?”

“I try to avoid caffeine these days,” you say, feeling bad that you can’t accept any of the tea he’s generously offering. 

“What do you like then? I can get it flown in. Herbal teas?”

“It’s really not a problem,” you assure him, but after a minute of silent insisting he can be a good host, you bend and say,” Chamomile would be nice.”

“Straight from Germany, coming up!” He leaves, probably to make an order for it in bulk.

The other three are trying to act natural, but the tension in the room is suffocating. “I’m going to eat these… over there.” You point south, and you don’t actually know what rooms are in that direction, but you’re going to find out. You just can’t handle their quiet, but attentive concern.

You find a lounge with large windows facing a beautiful rock face and the ocean, and settle into one of the oversized armchairs. You eat slowly, kind of testing the waters really. You haven’t ate solid food for quite some time, and if earlier was anything to go by, your stomach is still kind of flighty.

You can’t stop thinking about the night you were abducted.

You just keep replaying the scene over and over, wondering about the little what-ifs, and wondering if there was something you should have done differently to avoid being caught. The sun is beautiful as it begins to set, and enjoy a long silence until hours later when Tony comes in with a mug of what you presume to be tea.

He sits across from you and hands over the tea, which you take graciously. It smells delightful after such stress like you’ve endured.

Tony fiddles his thumbs and looks to be attempting to formulate words. “We searched day and night after we got your message.” He looks up and the concern and apology is clearly written all over his face. _Are you okay? You were gone for so long. I’m sorry we couldn’t find you right away. Is there anything I can do? Please, please, please?_

“I appreciate it. Really. Thank you,” you mumble. You had been in there a week by the time you figured out how to get a message through. All it read was “HELP BANNER KIDNAPPED” in morse, but apparently it had gotten through and was received seriously. It had taken seven more weeks before you were found, you guess, but you were drugged through most of it. 

“I’m sorry, but I really just need to be alone right now. Maybe we could do a big group meal tomorrow? Noonish?” 

“Right, of course, I get it. Jarvis? Put it into everyone’s calendars, STAT.”

“Yes, sir, and what should the menu consist of?”

Tony looks to you and you decide to just answer instead of beating around the bush. You know he would protest any excuse you could come up with. The question is what are you craving after being locked up so long? “Um, I guess spaghetti would be nice. Vegetarian if possible.” It’s not that you won’t eat meat, but you prefer to avoid it for sustainability. You’ve made a lot of mistakes, and having a lighter carbon footprint is an easy enough place to start making up for it all.

Tony gets to his feet and awkwardly walks a few steps and stops and goes a few more. You can tell he really wants to help and feels he should be there for you. Everyone deals with being abducted and tortured differently though, and you wish he would just leave you in peace. You know he’s just trying to be a good friend, so you try not to get too frustrated.

Once the tea is fully steeped, you cease just inhaling and proceed to drink up. It’s really good chamomile. You wish you hadn’t shooed out Tony, he really is just trying to help and he is doing everything he can.

You just really wish you didn’t feel on the verge of switching every time you breathe in or out.


End file.
